


Feeling Are(n't) Unnecessary

by inanimate_object



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: (Brief) Jealous Byakuya, Bisexual Naegi Makoto, Byakuya and Makoto have a sleepover kinda, Fluff, Gay Togami Byakuya, M/M, Makoto knows he likes Byakuya but Byakuya is Confused, Naegami, One (1) forehead kiss, One Shot, Togami Byakuya is Bad at Feelings, Togami Byakuya-Centric, there is some Makoto povs though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28051572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inanimate_object/pseuds/inanimate_object
Summary: Byakuya finds himself not being able to stop thinking about Makoto for some reason. Makoto tries to make friends with Byakuya. They start hanging out. Byakuya questions his sexuality. Byakuya's thoughts on feelings and friendship start to change.
Relationships: Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 19
Kudos: 213





	Feeling Are(n't) Unnecessary

**Author's Note:**

> my first ever work for DR and on ao3 wow a 2 in 1  
> anyway i haven't actually finished the first game yet so sorry if some things are wrong D:

Byakuya thought feelings were unnecessary.

Then again, he never really felt much.

Growing up Byakuya never really had any toys. He was never spoiled by his parents, as ironic as that is for coming from a rich family. All he had were those damn documents in manila folders. Murder cases were his toy figurines, classified government papers were his fake guns, and then stock markets and day trading were his video games.

Those made his father show feelings. Something like pride. He may have been proud of Byakuya, but his son was never sure. He would keep at the documents anyway. Anything for his father. Anything for his family. Anything to be the heir to the metaphorical throne and to run the world from the shadows. He would take the family to new heights, anyway. He was the best of the best.

Byakuya thought feelings were unnecessary and disappointing. Confusing. Weird. Stupid.

So then why was he feeling?

Ever since they got wrapped up in this school of death, his classmates had thought he may have been insane. How could he be so calm during all of this? He thought it was simple. Kill to win. He would do it to win, anything to win, anything to leave, anything to get back home to his papers and documents and unfeeling world.

All his classmates thought he was absurd and they avoided him. Only two had taken any form of liking to him. Toko and...

Him.

He had no idea what fascination Toko had for himself, but it was nothing but annoying. The Genocide Jack part of her had an easy explanation for her infatuation with him, but Toko was simply a schoolgirl in love, if you could even call it that.

Makoto however...

Makoto was ordinary and that was about it. He wasn’t really an “ultimate” anything, luck was the only thing he had going for him. He was boring, a complete nobody. That being said, he was strange to Byakuya for the fact that he tried to be friends with him. ...Or something. Byakuya usually avoided him. When the blond had disappeared to the library every day, Makoto came to check on him and attempt conversation. Byakuya sent him back out in the end, but it was still more than the other students did, and decidedly less annoying than Toko ever was.

Still. Makoto didn’t hate Byakuya and that was something. Not wanting someone to hate him was rich to Byakuya, he had hated people all his life, and yet he didn’t want Makoto to dislike him for some reason.

Maybe feelings weren’t as bad as he thought?

What?  
No!  
Feelings are nothing but a distraction.  
They’re pointless.  
The friendships these people are making are pointless.

...Were they though?

The more he thought about it the less sense it made to him. Why now, of all times, would he change his stance on feelings? There was no debate, feelings were worthless, especially in this situation. Even so, he couldn’t get Makoto out of his head, especially after the second trial. Makoto had picked apart Byakuya’s involvement in the case and, thanks to Kyoko, found the actual killer. The way Makoto could put the whole case together like that, twice, was nothing short of impressive.

Byakuya couldn’t stop thinking about him. it was the first time he had ever felt something other than irritated, angry, or smug.

He just couldn’t tell what the feeling was.

~~~

Byakuya was someone interesting.

This whole time Makoto got himself involved with interesting people, like Sayaka and Kyoko and Taka and even Chihiro and Mondo before the end. Byakuya Togami was nothing short of interesting. He was cold and calculated and a little hard to understand.

Makoto wanted to understand.

He wanted to know the way Byakuya’s brain worked, why he acted the way he did, why he was mean to the other students so often, why he was so calm and collected while their classmates went around and murdered each other. Makoto wanted to know about Byakuya, but it was almost like he was brushed off every time he tried to get close.

Until the beginning of the second investigation, when Byakuya came to him first.

It was something that Makoto didn’t see coming, but he went with Byakuya anyway. He gathered crucial case evidence because of the young heir and in the end it seemed like Byakuya was testing him somehow. Just when he thought he was making progress in understanding Byakuya said student was kicking down that understanding like a sandcastle on the beach.

Byakuya wasn’t at breakfast the morning after the trial, even though Genocide Jill was. Taka was silent the whole time. Makoto didn’t blame him, he himself was pretty messed up after Sayaka’s case. while the others continued on in conversation around him, Makoto could feel himself zone out. He wanted to find Byakuya today and talk to him.

Unfortunately, the most Makoto could talk to Byakuya was when he caught the heir reading in the boy’s locker room. To be honest, he felt a little uneasy coming back there knowing it was a murder scene, but he was just curious to see if everything had been put back in it’s place. Instead, all his focus locked on to the blond sitting on the floor near the door of the pool, a stack of books next to him and one in his hands.

“Um, Byakuya? What are you doing here?” Makoto’s appearance wasn’t loud or sudden, which is why he was confused when Byakuya almost jumped out of his skin, slamming his book shut in the process, like the other had thrown the door open and started shouting at him. When Byakuya looked up at him, his blue eyes were wide and his cheeks were tinged pink. It wasn’t that cold in here, why were his cheeks flushed?

“I’m reading, obviously,” Byakuya’s voice was still sharp, despite his strange appearance and actions. “I was hoping not to be disturbed in a place like this.” His wide eyes swiftly settled into his familiar glare, almost as if Makoto had imagined the previous look on his face.

“Oh, s-sorry.” It was immediately clear to Makoto that Byakuya wouldn’t simply just become nice to him after their short-lived partnership during the investigation just a day ago. What was the harm in being nice to him, then? “Well, we’re all pretty sure there’s more stuff now that the trial is over and Yasuhiro told me that there’s a third floor now. Do you wanna come look with us?” Byakuya eyed him suspiciously, like there was some sort of catch that Makoto was waiting to reveal, but nothing came. The heir sighed and set his book down on the stack with the others.

“I suppose I should, since I haven’t been up there myself, yet.” It was a yes. It was a yes and it was more than Makoto expected. He smiled over his disbelief as Byakuya stood up and brushed himself off, walking past Makoto with a comment of, “Why are you just standing there? Are we going or not?” before they both left the locker room.

~~~

Walking with Makoto was okay, he supposed.

It’s not like it was horrible. He was quiet for the most part.

It was... pleasant, then, Byakuya decided.

Makoto took his time analyzing every room they went into, not including the classrooms, which were all more or less the same. It was smart and stupid at the same time. it’s not like they were going to find any-

“It’s a picture of Mondo, Leon, and Chihiro!” Makoto suddenly gasped. That had caught Byakuya off guard from where he was standing in the doorway. He made his way over to Makoto, who was hunched over on the floor, a piece of paper in his hands.

Sure enough, Mondo, Leon, and Chihiro were all there, smiling. They were all wearing white, and-

“The windows behind them aren’t boarded,” the two of them whispered in sync. It made Byakuya’s face grow warm for some reason. He tried not to think about how close they were while the wheels in Makoto’s head turned. He tried not to think about the warmth between where their arms and shoulders were almost touching.

Byakuya didn’t want to be touched. He didn’t want to touch people, either. Yet something about leaning in to Makoto and closing that small gap between their bodies was strangely... appealing.

What is going on with me?

Monokuma showed up to whisk the picture away and be as cryptic as always, banishing all thoughts of touching Makoto from his mind.

He pretended he had never started to close that gap in the first place.

-

Nothing else particularly exciting happened during the rest of their exploration. Byakuya was thankful, however, he had taken to further observing the “air purifier” in the science lab instead of going towards the back room with Makoto. The annoying and rather loud voice of Genocide Jill was enough to have him almost running back to the locker room. Thankfully, she didn’t leave and Makoto did, speedily making his way back to Byakuya and dragging Taka behind them as they made their way back to the dining room. Besides the finding of Alter Ego, nothing else noteworthy happened that day.

Still, Byakuya felt disappointed when he and Makoto parted ways for the night.

These feelings were a distraction. A weakness, yet he couldn’t get them to go away. He just wanted them to stop. He wanted to stop feeling weird.

What was Makoto doing to him?

~~~

Makoto didn’t really expect Byakuya to be at breakfast in the morning, but he was still disappointed when he wasn’t.

He was surprised when Byakuya wasn’t in the library, and Makoto even checked the locker room to try and see if he was reading there again.

He decided that Byakuya was somewhere on the third floor and set out to find him. He wasn’t exactly sure why he wanted to find and hang out with Byakuya in particular, especially since he was sure Byakuya didn’t even consider them friends, but he just wanted to see what he was doing and chat for a bit.

~~~

Byakuya wanted to be alone for as long as he could today, so he strayed from any of his usual free time spots and went up to the art room. There was something calming about being in there, even though most of the paintings on the wall looked like children’s scribbles.

He was thinking about Makoto, of course. For some reason he couldn’t get the lucky student out of his mind. Lucky student... he wondered how Makoto had gotten that ultimate. He would ask the next time they saw each other.

Byakuya sighed and glanced over to the small pile of books he had brought with him. Some were the normal mystery novels he liked to lose himself in, and others were a couple he grabbed off the shelf at random. He thought it would be a nice change of pace to surprise himself with a book.

He picked up one of the random books. A romance novel. How disgusting. He glanced at the author.

“Toko Fukawa”

He suddenly wasn’t in the mood to read anymore.

He set the book back down, maybe a little too harshly based on the small thud that came from it. Romance. Was she serious? Romance was an even bigger waste of time than any other feeling. It was nothing but a chemical reaction. A mere biological urge to mate and reproduce, unless, of course, you were a man attracted to other men.

Byakuya paused. That was oddly specific of him. He chalked it up to his recent odd feelings.

He wondered what Makoto’s preference was.

He wondered what?

Why, of all things, would that matter to him? Another person’s romantic interests? He scoffed at his thoughts and decided to backpedal through them. Makoto was the Ultimate Lucky Student. Surely, that would mean he’s better off than other people, but he’s nothing special at all. For all Byakuya knew, Makoto’s financial status was enough to get by and that was it. If he was so lucky, why didn’t he just luck his way out of Hope’s Peak? Win the game? Be rich and famous? Get himself a boyfriend or girlfriend?

Byakuya furrowed his eyebrows. Back to the romance, huh? Don’t you have anything better to do?

Echoing footsteps brought him out of his head, thankfully, and led him to question the architecture of the room, but only a little. Makoto himself came into view, wandering aimlessly through the hall and appearing as if he were looking for something.

He looked in Byakuya’s direction and his expression brightened, like he found what he was looking for. The blond’s eyes went wide.

Had Makoto been looking for him?

“Byakuya! There you are!”

Apparently so.

“What do you want?” Byakuya’s voice didn’t have as much ice in it as usual. It’s not like he outright hated Makoto, Byakuya knew he was at least somewhat intelligent and had decided the times they had kept each other’s company weren’t completely terrible.

Makoto only shrugged in response to Byakuya’s question, an absent smile on his face. The heir rolled his eyes. How could he be so cheery here? The school was suffocating and designed for their despair. He almost considered asking the brunet but decided to ask something else before he forgot.

“I have a question for you.” Byakuya stated plainly. Makoto looked up at him with wide eyes, like he wasn’t expecting to be asked anything by Byakuya.

“Huh? You do?” That confirmed it.

“Something’s been bothering me. I need you to explain to me what exactly your ‘Ultimate Lucky Student’ title means.” Makoto’s eyes widened further and he shifted his weight from foot to foot, seemingly nervous. It made Byakuya raise an eyebrow.

“Oh, well... I don’t totally get it myself,” he murmured, a hand coming up to scratch the back of his head. “What I do know is that I was picked at random from a pool of normal students.”

“I see. That answers my question then.” Byakuya folded his arms over his chest and glanced at his pile of books. The one written by Toko almost seemed to mock him.

“What was the question?” Makoto also glanced at the pile with a raised eyebrow before looking back up at the other, confusion written clearly on his face. It was cute. Byakuya almost chuckled at it.

“How a generic and boring commoner like you got the title of lucky.” Makoto gasped quietly and his face flushed red out of pure embarrassment, making Byakuya actually chuckle.

“Did you really have to say that?”

“It’s the truth.” Byakuya was smiling, though. Makoto took it as a good sign. Something else was bothering Byakuya, and it was those previous thoughts of romance. It was only natural curiosity, right? Besides, there was no harm in asking.

“What is it?” Makoto sighed. Byakuya blinked down at him to find a somewhat bored impression on his face.

“I- What?”

“You look like you want to ask me another question,” Makoto stated, his hands burrowed into the pocket of his hoodie. Byakuya noted it was a casual move. Maybe that meant Makoto was comfortable with him? Why did that matter so much?

“Well, I... I was just thinking and I wondered what your... romantic preferences were.” That confused the brunet, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

“You... want to know what my sexuality is?” Even though it was the truth, Byakuya’s eyes darted away.

“The simple answer is yes.” He decided not to get into a debate with Makoto about it.

Said boy crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think I’d tell you that?” That caught Byakuya off guard. He wasn’t expecting to receive an attitude. Makoto did have a point though, why did Byakuya expect him just to spill something so personal? The heir could only stare down at Makoto with wide eyes, not knowing how to proceed with the conversation.

That’s when Makoto started laughing.

Like full on, doubled over, holding his stomach, laughing.

“Your face!” He wheezed. “I’m kidding. I don’t really mind that much. Besides I trust you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“You... trust me?” That surprised Byakuya as well. “After what I did during the last trial? Do you have any common sense?”

“I meant I trust you not to tell anyone that I’m actually bi, not that I really care too much if it got out.” Makoto paused for a moment, staring off into space before his brown-eyed gaze returned to the other’s. “I still don’t get why you did that, though. You threw us off course for no reason when you could have easily said that you saw Mondo. You could have just said what you knew about Toko, too, so why?”

Why?

Why was a good question.

“Just to show the rest of you how easy it was to frame someone else. Not that you’d have the proper observation skills to tell, anyway.” An easy lie. A smooth one. One that was almost the truth. “You did answer my question, though, so I suppose we’re done here.” Byakuya tried to walk off, but Makoto grabbed him by the wrist before he could take any more than a few steps. The blond reacted as if he was set on fire at the contact, retracting his wrist towards his chest while his face began to burn for reasons he didn’t understand.

Makoto seemed surprised at his reaction as well, his eyebrows perched high on his forehead and his hand still in midair. He mumbled a questioning apology before getting to what he was going to ask. “I, ah, was wondering about you.”

“I-I’m sorry?” Byakuya let his hands drop. Makoto rolled his eyes playfully, like the taller boy had forgotten something important. It made him scowl back at that playful expression.

“Your sexuality. An eye for an eye, or something like that.”

Honestly, Byakuya had never given it much thought. He was usually busy with work or family matters or just simply didn’t care. However... there was the off chance he exchanged a few words with some interesting guys his age. Maybe he had somehow mixed up interest with interest.

It certainly made sense to him.

“I don’t really care how you label me,” he replied slowly. “I only know that I am most definitely not... compatible with women.”

“And?” Makoto pressed with no harsh intent. His smile was innocent and so was his gaze.

“And I... suppose I do feel a certain fondness for other men.” Makoto grinned and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder.

“Hey, there it is! I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Yes, well, as you said, I don’t particularly care if it got out.” He bit back his remark about Makoto’s physical contact.

The brunet made finger guns at him as he left the area, leaving Byakuya a little confused and still internally conflicted. He peered over at Toko’s book.

Romance. How ridiculous.

-

Admitting to someone that you might be gay is one thing, having to sit down with that thought and actually think about it for the second time ever was another.

Byakuya knew for a fact that he didn’t like girls. He was completely uninterested in any girl he could think of, real or imaginary. Looking back on all the guys he had met had a somewhat... different feeling. He replayed conversations in his mind, recalling snarky comments that could almost pass as flirting, how his eyes had lingered on arrogant smirks, how he almost felt disappointed when they had to leave.

There was also Makoto still stuck in his head no matter what he did. Thought about going to dinner? Wondered if Makoto would be there. Thought about taking a shower? Remembered Sayaka’s death and how that affected Makoto. Stared aimlessly at his door? Makoto was across the hall, why not just pay him a visit?

Byakuya eventually resorted to lying down on his bed, staring up into his ceiling, and just let the thoughts run absolutely wild. He was still thinking about Makoto as he closed his eyes, if he was doing the same, if he was staying up longer, if he was already fast asleep.

Byakuya didn’t remember what he dreamed about, but he was sure Makoto was there, too.

~~~

Makoto wasn't expecting Byakuya to show up to breakfast with everyone the next morning, but then again, Byakuya was always full of surprises.

"Woah! Byakuya! You're here!" Makoto exclaimed. Byakuya's head snapped up and he looked slightly less annoyed than he did when Taka was screaming about something.

"Do you know anything about this... change Kiyotaka is going through?" He asked, almost hesitantly. Makoto forced out a nervous laugh.

"Um, yeah, I'd rather not talk about it..." Byakuya shot him a questioning look before turning back to where Taka was declaring himself "Kiyondo". Kyoko was sending accusatory yet not hostile glances in Makoto's direction, making him sigh and rest his forehead against the table to avoid meeting her gaze.

-

"Why are you following me?"

"What, you're not used to it, yet?" Makoto joked. Byakuya sighed and shook his head, but he didn't seem annoyed. Makoto took that as a win. "We're hanging out."

"You consider this hanging out?" Byakuya almost stopped in the middle of the hallway to stare at Makoto, who only shrugged and smiled up at him. The blond rolled his eyes and continued on his way to the art room.

"Well, any time you spend with a friend could be considered hanging out." Byakuya scoffed at him and he had a feeling that he knew exactly what the other was going to say. Something about them not being friends because, oh, the great, powerful, and wealthy Byakuya Togami did not have nor need any friends.

"A poor thing to be considered hanging out, we're just walking, and even when we reach our destination, it's not like we'll be doing anything." Makoto remained silent for a moment, carefully processing what Byakuya had just said because he had surprised Makoto once again, but there was something else to that. Something he couldn't put his finger on at first.

Wait.

Did Byakuya just...?

"Did you just admit we're friends?" Byakuya froze. Makoto thought for a second that he was mad, but then he saw the bright red flush of his cheeks. He gasped. "You did!"

"I-I did not!"

"Just by saying that you still acknowledge that we are friends!"

"How? What are you even talking about?" Makoto couldn't help the large grin from spreading across his face because holy heck, Byakuya Togami just said they were friends! They had stopped walking, Byakuya's face never cooling down from the deep scarlet while Makoto beamed up at him with stars in his eyes.

"We're friends."

"Will you stop talking?"

"You're not denying it!"

"Shut up!" Byakuya hissed with no real venom. Makoto laughed and turned to skip down the hall.

"Me and Byakuya are friends!" He cheered in a sing-song voice. "Me and Byakuya are friends!"

"If you keep this up I will very quickly become the next blackened!"

-

Makoto and Byakuya were friends.

Byakuya said so himself.

It made Makoto's chest bloom with warmth and he was unable to keep a smile off his face. Even now, when they were sitting in silence while Byakuya read, Makoto couldn't stop smiling.

"Makoto." Ah. Byakuya had caught him staring.

"Y-Yeah?"

"How did you know for sure?" Well, that was completely random. Makoto raised his eyebrows.

"Know what?"

"That you... liked men." Oh. Oh. That's where this was going. Makoto sat up from where he was leaning against one of the tables in the room.

"I thought you said-"

"I never actually thought about it," Byakuya confessed quietly, "before you asked. I... didn't think it was important." A small laugh came from Makoto before he could stop it.

"Yeah, that seems like you," he murmured. Byakuya scoffed.

"What, you think you have me all figured out?"

"I wish I did." That made Byakuya blush, nothing but a gentle dust of pink over his cheeks.

"Why?" The question hung heavy in the air as light hazel eyes bore into blue ones, both sides calculating and trying to understand. "Answer my question."

"Which one?"

"How did you know for sure?" Makoto was the one to tear his gaze away, turning it to the ceiling instead.

"Well, it's kind of this feeling at first. There are a lot of little things that just add up over time and when you actually sit down and think about it, it makes so much sense." Makoto could feel Byakuya's eyes still on him as he talked, but he felt like it was rightfully deserved after getting caught staring himself. "A lot of people seem to realize it at a certain point, like staring at another guy in the locker room or kissing one."

"I've never kissed anyone," Byakuya admitted, causing Makoto's eyes to widen, "how would I know if kissing a boy would be any different from kissing a girl?" Makoto thought about that for a moment.

"Imagine kissing a girl," he began again, "it could be any girl you want, real, completely imaginary, from your favorite book or something, whatever."

"Okay." Byakuya was trying to picture it, but his mind was completely blank.

"Now imagine kissing a boy." Makoto didn't explain any further than that.

"Oh." He didn't need to.

~~~

All the things Byakuya had been feeling seemed mostly positive. As much as the feelings confused him, none of them seemed objectively bad.

Until he left his room in the morning and saw Kyoko and Makoto talking.

Byakuya had nothing against Kyoko, besides her mysterious nature, however watching her talking almost timidly with Makoto had a fire that he didn't even know existed spreading in his chest. He thought for a moment that he was having a heart attack. He was left confused as a wave of irritation towards Kyoko washed over him. It was so sudden, he didn't even really have time to think against it and only briskly walked past the two conversing.

"Ah, good morning, Byakuya!" Makoto called behind him.

Byakuya didn't reply. He was too busy over analyzing the pink tint of Kyoko's cheeks.

~~~

"Hey, there you are! I've been looking for you!"

"Go away." Makoto flinched when Byakuya slammed the door in his face.

"Wh- hey, come on! What happened to being friends?" Makoto protested, repeatedly pushing the doorbell. Byakuya cracked the door open again, fixing him with an icy look.

"I do not wish to speak to you right now, so leave." He closed the door again, though slightly softer this time. Makoto huffed and continued to press the doorbell. The door opened once more and a book flew out this time, coming in contact with Makoto's chest. "Leave me alone!" Makoto's shock and frustration at having a book thrown at him dissipated as soon as Byakuya said those words. There was emotion behind them, something more than his regular irritation.

"Byakuya, are you okay?" There was no reply, and the door was still open, so Makoto stepped forward and peeked inside. Byakuya had slumped down on the floor, books scattered around him and on his bed. He was glaring up at Makoto; as if he was in the position to judge when it looked like he had just rolled out of bed after sleeping in the same clothes he wore yesterday.

"What do you want?" His voice wasn't mad, not even annoyed, it just sounded... sad, somehow.

"What are you even doing in here? I thought you would want to go to the library or the art room or something."

"Well, I've officially decided that this is the only place I can get any privacy, and that was true until you came here," Byakuya said with a huff, reaching for one of the many books surrounding him. "Will you leave now or do I have to shove you out the door?" Instead of answering, Makoto sat down on the floor across from him.

"You weren't at breakfast this morning."

"I'm not sure if you've noticed but I don't typically come to that."

"You did yesterday." Byakuya fell silent, pretending to be engrossed in the book he had in his hands. Makoto wasn't going to let him be quiet for long though. "Did you go to the library and then right back earlier?"

"Yes." Or maybe he was. Normally sitting in silence with Byakuya was fine, but right then Makoto couldn't help but feel awkward. He sat and watched Byakuya's eye trail across the pages while his mind ran wild. He seemed fine yesterday, but up until this morning...

"Are you mad at me?" Byakuya looked up from his book, his face colored with surprise. Makoto stared back at him, completely serious.

"What? Of course not, why would I be?"

"I don't know, you just seem mad ever since this morning. Kyoko noticed it, too." Byakuya visibly tensed, his nose scrunched briefly and his eyebrows pulled together.

"Right. Of course Kirigiri noticed." Makoto's eyebrows raised at that reaction.

"Do you... not like her?"

"It's not that," Byakuya was quick to reply. "I just... don't see the need for you to speak to her." Something seemed to click in Makoto's mind as he watched a small flush come over Byakuya's cheeks.

"Are you jealous?" A small flush turned into a deep blush, causing a grin to come over Makoto's face. "You are?" 

"I am not! That is... simply ridiculous!" Byakuya countered, though it wasn't convincing the brunet. "I thought you at least had some brains, Makoto, honestly!" Makoto rolled his eyes, not believing a word coming out of the young heir's mouth.

"You know, if you wanted to talk to me so bad, you could have just said so," he snickered. Byakuya huffed, though it almost sounded like a growl.

"You're sorely mistaken, I fear you may even be delusional." Makoto let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, yeah, definitely. It's the murder messing with my head." I was heavier than he meant it to be, and it made him frown the moment it left his lips. Something about seeing Makoto unhappy made Byakuya unhappy.

"Well, I'm..." Byakuya wasn't sure what to say, but he needed to cheer Makoto up somehow. "It... It can't be too long until we figure out who is behind all of this, so you shouldn't have to worry about it much longer."

"Really? You think so?" That... actually worked? Makoto looked hopeful, the faintest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips. Byakuya's eyes lingered on it for the slightest of moments before he was able to blink and tear them away.

"Of course, Hope's Peak only allows the best of the best in, and we're still the best, aren't we?" Byakuya was lying through his teeth. Makoto knew it too, but it was nice to hope and believe, even just for a moment. Makoto's smile became more apparent before slipping into a pout.

"I'm just lucky to be here," he sighed. "If you could even call it lucky..." Byakuya was quick to follow his train of thought.

"We could all use a bit of luck in these circumstances," he assured the shorter boy, who had slid sideways against the wall and was now laying on the floor. "Besides," he added. "You did get to meet me. That must be some luck in itself. If not for this... dark game we have to play, I don't believe we ever could have met, and I suppose I... appreciate your presence."

"Yeah," Makoto agreed, his voice as sincere and light-hearted as always. "I did get to meet you." He turned his head and hazel eyes met blue ones. Byakuya wasn't sure what to do with that, he hadn't really expected Makoto to agree with him. There was a beat of silence before the brunet continued in a murmur, "That's the first time you've ever said you like having me around."

Byakuya caught his gaze trailing back to Makoto's lips and his voice was the softest Makoto had ever heard before. "Take it as you will."

~~~

Byakuya imagined kissing Makoto.

Was that weird?

Of course it was.

It was easy to picture, too. That was probably the worst part. Byakuya could clearly see himself standing up and setting his book down, making his way over to Makoto before leaning down and gliding his fingers through his hair while their lips met-

Feelings. Were. Stupid.

Byakuya couldn't stress that enough.

Yet here he was, admitting to being friends with Makoto and having deep and personal conversations with him and admittedly getting maybe a little jealous when he talks to a girl who is clearly into him and wanting to cheer him up when he gets upset all the while imagining how warm his lips must be.

Byakuya had feelings for Makoto.

Byakuya had feelings for Makoto.

Romantic feelings.

It wasn't a calming realization. It was one that made him shout and turn bright red and stare at his ceiling for hours. He could barely sleep, focusing on the fact that he actually had feelings for Makoto. 

It was... a lot for him to take in. What was he even going to do? Was there even a point to deny it? Should he confess to Makoto? What would even happen if he confessed to Makoto? Makoto did have similar preferences after all, so Byakuya has a chance, but does Makoto feel the same? He was stuck in a loop of questions and confusion and denial all night.

When he went out for breakfast in the morning, he actually found Makoto there, waiting for him. It caught Byakuya by surprise when he opened the door and Makoto was right outside, seemingly lost in thought.

"Oh, good morning, Byakuya! I was just going to wake you up!" He smiled brightly (had his eyes always scrunched like that when he smiled?) and Byakuya stepped into the hall to close the door behind him.

"I... see that," he murmured, blinking vacantly while trying not to stare at Makoto's mouth too much. "What do you want?"

Makoto scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Nothing really, I just wanted to walk to breakfast together, if you want to go, that is." Byakuya's eyebrows raised at last bit. If anything he expected Makoto to beg him to go to breakfast. He sighed.

"I supposed there is no harm in going," he grumbled, already making his way past Makoto and heading to the dining hall. "Hurry up before I change my mind."

-

"What are you reading?" Byakuya eyed Makoto carefully as he scooted closer to him on the floor.

"Why does it matter to you?" Byakuya countered quietly, gaze returning to the words on the page. Makoto shrugged next to him, mumbling a small "just curious" as he stared at Byakuya's profile.

Makoto seemed to have this habit of staring at people when he was lost in thought and Byakuya didn't like it. Makoto had no reason to be looking at him for that long. It made his stomach feel weird and his face get hot.

"Makoto," Byakuya piped up, his voice still hushed.

"Yeah?" Came the response. Byakuya turned his head to look at Makoto and almost regretted doing so. Makoto's face was right there and flushed red and his eyes were staring straight into Byakuya's.

"You're... staring." There didn't seem to be any point in saying it anymore. The brunet nodded slowly, his eye falling down Byakuya's face, just barely lingering on his mouth, before he turned completely away.

"Sorry," he mumbled, blushing brighter than before. Byakuya was glad he had turned away; he could not control the flushing of his own cheeks anymore.

~~~

Makoto had a feeling that Byakuya didn't get much sleep. He refrained from talking about it, or almost anything else when the two of them were together, but Byakuya definitely seemed to be dozing off at times.

Alright. TIme to play the distraction game. What to talk about...?

"Do you believe in fate, Byakuya?" It was a random question, but it was certainly a debatable one. Hopefully this would keep the heir up.

"Oh, I supposed you'll ask me if I think soulmates exist, too?" Byakuya responded dryly, but was mostly awake. It brought a smile to Makoto's face.

"Well, there is nothing that doesn't prove it." He aimed his smile over to Byakuya to let him know he was messing around. It caused the corners of Byakuya's lips to quirk up just slightly.

"There's nothing that definitely does," Byakuya argued calmly. Makoto watched as he sat up, getting more into the conversation now. "Besides, soulmates are just another man-made concept, designed to romanticize the idea that you need to find someone to complete you in order to be a functioning human being."

"So, now you're saying love isn't real?" Makoto's smile widened and one of his eyebrows raised, still playful. Byakuya rolled his eyes.

"I'm not saying that," he murmured. "Love... does exist. To some extent at least."

"This is coming from the guy that hadn't even thought about romance up until like, two days ago?"

"Oh, quiet you." Makoto laughed as Byakuya hit him lightly with the unopened book in his hand. Silence blanketed over them again as the blond cracked the book open, blue eyes scanning weathered pages. There was something still nagging at Makoto, however, something that he couldn't ignore for some reason.

"Do you think Taka loved Mondo?" It had Byakuya freezing and looking back over at him.

"Now that you mention it, it would make a lot of sense," he agreed. Something clouded over his eyes. "Although, it probably couldn't have been that serious considering how long they knew each other. You can't develop serious feelings in such a short amount of time."

"If only this was a normal school," Makoto whispered. "They could have had all the time in the world to love each other." There were a few more beats of silence, in which Makoto could feel the other's eyes on him.

"Did you love Sayaka?" His voice was soft and careful, that and the mention of Sayaka leading him to glance over and away again.

"No, I don't... I don't think so," he admitted. "I think at some point I really could have, but now that I think back on it... not at the time did I truly love her romantically." Byakuya yawned as Makoto pulled himself off his previous position of laying on the floor. Makoto shot him a playfully accusatory look. "Am I boring you that much?"

"Don't flatter yourself, only Toko could bore me to death." Makoto snickered and Byakuya smiled. "I just haven't got much-" Byakuya was cut off by the oh-so-annoying and repetitive nighttime announcement. "...sleep."

"Guess that's my cue to leave then," Makoto stood up and stretched. "I'll see you in the morning, Bya.... ku... ya?" Makoto looked down at his hand, warm where it had been encased in Byakuya's. He looked up at Byakuya's face to try to gauge his thoughts, but his head was lowered, blond bangs effectively hiding his face.

Byakuya Togami does not ask for things, he just gets them.  
So having Byakuya Togami grasping his hand and whispering "stay" in the smallest voice he had ever heard was a big deal to Makoto. When Makoto did not answer, Byakuya's grip tightened ever so slightly.

"...please?"

When you figure out how to say no to that, let Makoto know because he could not find a single option.

~~~

Asking Makoto to stay was the stupidest thing Byakuya had ever done for many reasons but the biggest one was the fact that the only available bed was twin sized.

Byakuya was not looking forward to that debate.

“I could run to my dorm really quick and get some stuff from my bed,” Makoto suggested. It wasn’t a half bad idea, but Byakuya still wanted equal grounds with him so the both of them ended up sleeping on the floor with their bedding. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it also wasn’t really comfortable either. Still, they made it work.

Byakuya expected more silence as they tried to fall asleep, but they ended up talking into the late hours of the night about anything and everything. Eventually Byakuya became sleep deprived enough to start laughing at some of the things Makoto said. Makoto was staring more than ever and Byakuya didn't mind it at all. He enjoyed it, in fact, having Makoto's attention all to himself. Call it greedy or clingy, he didn't really care, it was the truth.

It was when they had finally grown silent that it happened. Byakuya was the one staring now, his eyes drifting down Makoto's profile, from his closed eyelids, down the bridge of his nose, and finding that familiar spot on his lips.

"Now imagine kissing a boy."

Makoto was asleep, right? He was asleep and he was right there.

Byakuya was wide awake. Cold and mean Byakuya. Byakuya who had gotten practically everything he wanted whenever he wanted it.

Byakuya wanted to kiss Makoto. He was right there.

Byakuya sat up carefully, eyes still staring, taking in every detail of Makoto's relaxed form.

Not just murder needed a motive. Every decision, every action had a motive behind it. The motive to create, the motive to destroy, the motive for power, the motive to live, the motive to survive.

Feelings were a motive.

Feelings were unnecessary.

Yet there he was, so many feelings swirling around in his head that it made him dizzy. His face was burning and tingling and it felt like a ball of light and warmth was bouncing off the walls of his rib cage like a rubber ball in an empty room. His heart was pumping adrenaline and anticipation into his veins, the sound deafening in his ears. It was a wonder it didn't wake Makoto.

Makoto was right there and Byakuya wanted to kiss him so badly.

He leaned down.

Hovered.

Stalled.

Makoto's eyelashes fluttered.

Gentle fingers winding into blond hair.

Blue eyes blinked and eyebrows furrowed.

"Byakuya..." A murmur, not a question but an answer.

Byakuya wanted to kiss Makoto.

So he did.

~~~

Byakuya had somehow slept through the morning announcement, which Makoto considered an amazing feat. Just the loud bell sounds alone were enough to wake him up. He sighed as he sat up, stretching his arms above his head and immediately feeling the damage sleeping on the floor had done to his back. He turned to look at Byakuya, his glasses somewhere off to the side, letting Makoto admire the space they normally covered. He smiled as he remembered last night, the blanketed and muffled excitement that came with kissing Byakuya over and over and over again...

"Byakuya," Makoto whispered, a test. The blond laid motionless, still asleep. Makoto smiled wider and leaned in close. He brushed stray strands of golden hair to the side and pressed his lips gently against Byakuya's forehead. "Wake up."

That was all it took for Byakuya's eye to crack open and for him to sit up. He mumbled incoherently to himself for a second before he seemed to gain the rest of his consciousness.

"You missed," he murmured, looking over at the brunet blearily. Makoto blinked, a surprised smile forming on his face.

"Huh? I missed?" Byakuya nodded.

"You missed," he said again, pressing their lips together before Makoto could respond this time.

"Agh, Byakuya, you have morning breath!"

"You'll live."

Feelings were a pain in the ass, that much was true, but Byakuya couldn't help but let his feelings overwhelm him as he peppered Makoto's face with kisses.


End file.
